The Troubled Times: Part I (Ver. 1.1)
by Justsomeone1
Summary: Draguanus has a plan forming, and the Mighty Ducks can't figure it out. Also, troubles between Wildwing and Nosedive as the brothers drift apart and Nosedive finds a new confidant in Duke. Version 1.1 (fixed typos, slightly rewritten).


(EDITOR: This is an update to the original story. I reread it and was very unhappy with all the typos and awkward sentences, so I decided to rework them. As a result, some small parts here and there have been chopped and some conversations have been extended. The updated story is actually longer in length than the original and I think it sounds better, especially with the poor grammar in some areas. I hope you enjoy the updated version better.)  
  
It had been a long day for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and as night fell, storms were moving in, making it one of those peaceful nights where you had to stay at home. However, the ducks didn't mind particularly since it had been a while since they had a peaceful night together. While the team all assembled with snacks around the television, Wildwing was digging through the bag from the video rental store earlier. Phil had thought that they needed more exposure to human culture, so what better way to take a crash course then popping in about a half dozen movies? Only the best for his boobies.  
  
"Who about this one?" Wildwing held up a copy of "Star Wars", one of the top mentions on Phil's list of recommended movies.  
  
"Sure, why not?" Duke nodded, looking over to Nosedive, who was seated next to him on the ground.  
  
"Go for it bro!" he clamored up. The other ducks also shrugged their shoulders; they didn't know which one to start with so they all agreed.  
  
Wildwing walked over, putting the tape in the VCR. He fell back into the couch, starting to relax, but he noticed that besides Tanya on the opposite end, he was alone. Taking a quick glance, he looked over to his brother. For some reason, Nosedive was on the floor, next to Duke, who was comfortably laying back in the reclining chair himself. The two were whispering to each other in quiet conversation for a quick minute. Duke flashed a warm smile and reached for his coffee while Nosedive chuckled quietly. Wildwing thought it was a little odd, since he and his brother usually preferred to sit together when watching something.  
  
"Hey little bro, why don't you come sit up by me?" Wildwing invitingly patted the seat next to him, giving a quick smile.  
  
"Oh, no thanks big bro, I'm fine right here, thanks." Nosedive smiled and turned back to the television, fiddling with the remote to forward through the previews. Wildwing had a slight look of confusion and hurt on his face, but it was lost among the others since all eyes were focused on the movie.  
  
A couple hours later, the next movie was in line to be played. The ladies were actually a little curious on what the romantic movies on Earth were like, and having no experience, followed Phil's advice again and went for "Bridges of Madison County". Wildwing thought he'd stick with it since there was nothing better to do, but Duke and Nosedive decided that they were going to do some practice in the gym, just the two of them. As they had walked away, Duke and Nosedive remained locked in small talk, Duke giving a quick laugh and placing a hand of Nosedive's shoulder as he said something incoherent as they faded down the dim corridor. As the couple had left, Wildwing was shooting an odd glance towards them, slightly suspicious.  
  
"Are you going to watch the movie or not?" Mallory asked, peering over to him, interpreting his distractive gaze as indecision.  
  
"Oh…uh, yeah, sure." Wildwing swung around and readjusted himself on the couch. However, as the casting began and the movie unfolded into its first scenes, Wildwing grew disinterested, because his mind was beginning to dwell on other matters. It seemed that for the last few weeks, his brother and Duke were spending more time together. It just seemed that the ducks got along, and that didn't start to concern him until Nosedive began to turn down offers from Wildwing to go to the mall or take a walk together, something that Wildwing was just recently trying to get back into doing after months of fighting Draguanus. Only recently did he begin to notice that Nosedive was pulling away from him and on the rare nights like this, when he was decked out in casual garments, free of his battle armor, the feelings of slight jealously started to awaken in him. Yet, Nosedive didn't seem bothered by the situation. He was still the wacky teenager playing pranks on Mallory and jumping into battle at the front lines, but he just seemed to be drifting away from Wildwing and that worried him. He put the thought on the back burner when the movie's volume suddenly began to grow louder, the dramatic music flooding the living room and demanding the attention of the viewers, except Grin, who was deeply in meditation, even amid all the noise.  
  
Inside the gym, Nosedive and Duke were working out a sweat. They were dueling with long poles, swinging them back and forth, fiercely cracking against each other and echoing throughout the gym.  
  
"Come on kid! Stop defending and move on the offensive!" Duke said, sidestepping and trying to swing his pole into Nosedive's side. However, with fast reflexes, the teen deflected the blow and jumped back a few steps.  
  
"Just getting into it…" Nosedive gave a fatigued smile and jumped back in the mock battle, attempting to attack from above and then switching from side to side. Duke was impressed with the teen's swiftness, but he was still observing room for improvement while countering each move almost instinctively. A few quick moments into the battle, Duke capitalized on a momentary lapse of Nosedive's and drove one end of the blunt pole into his side, knocking the air out of the teenager.  
  
"I need…to work on that…I know." Nosedive said in between labored breaths, dropping the pole and clutching his side.  
  
"Just a little bit, but don't worry. Just remember ya need to look for openings rather than defending all the time. Plus, ya reveal your side when you're preparing to go for a head-level assault. But, like I said, don't sweat it Kid. You're learning quickly." He gave a kind smile, checking on Nosedive's injury.  
  
"I didn't hurt ya bad did I, kid?"  
  
"Nah, I'll be fine."  
  
"Great. You wanna stop for tonight?"  
  
"Only if you want. I'm not that old!" Nosedive flashed a goofy grin, jumping up, grabbing the pole, and playfully striking an overly dramatic pose.  
  
"Alright, now's it time I teach you a real lesson! No mercy!" Duke grinned back, slapping the pole on his hand as if a teacher would his ruler.  
  
Duke and Nosedive returned shortly before the second movie came to an end, Nosedive appearing to be really warn out from the battle training, even sporting a couple of small bruises, gaining Wildwing's attention.  
  
"Dive, what happened?"  
  
"Nothing, Wing, don't worry."  
  
"Yeah, fearless leader. The kid's doing fine. Just a hard practice, that's all." Duke chimed in, both ducks dismissing the injuries. Wildwing grew a little unhappy, especially when Duke jumped in to double-team his concern. However, the matter was quickly dropped when Mallory and Tanya both told them to quiet down, caught up in the movie.  
  
The third movie of the night was "The Matrix", on persistence by Nosedive, especially after Thrash and Mook keep insisting on how awesome the movie was. Duke and Nosedive once again reassumed their former seats, Nosedive receiving the remote back from Wildwing.  
  
"Hey bro, you want to sit up here for the movie?" the white mallard offered once again, trying a new strategy and giving a mock look of pleading. At first, Nosedive was about to decline, but Duke gave him a quick nudge in the back. Nosedive suddenly stood up, playfully striking a dramatic pose.  
  
"It looks like for the good of the world, I must protect you from the coolness of this movie!" he grinned, flopping down on the couch, next to Wildwing. He mumbled as the upcoming previews started playing, and eagerly tapped on the forward button as an endless barrage of commercials ensued.  
  
"Why do humans put so many advertisements everywhere?" Tanya wondered, taking a sip from her coffee cup.  
  
"Who knows? The whole concept confuses me too." Mallory replied, soon returning this attention to the screen, which had now reached the beginning of the movie.  
  
As the credits began to play, Wildwing tried to bring his brother in a little closer, to settle in together for the movie, but Nosedive didn't fall into the embrace too easily. At first, the teen rebuffed him, taking a few seconds to realize that his brother wasn't goofing around with. Only after that did Nosedive let Wildwind put an arm around his shoulders and bring him in closer. As Wildwing gave a look down to Nosedive, he began to feel another suspicion reach his mind. It just seemed so weird that Nosedive, one who never shied away from a little sign of affection from his big brother, now seemed to be unmindful of the whole concept. Quickly, the movie was fading away those thoughts, the ducks drawn into the action. Wildwing gave a silent sigh and settled in for the long haul, his distracted mind scanning over the images on the screen with little real interest. A couple hours later, they had all decided that it was too late to continue watching movies and they decided to go to sleep. Mallory got up stretching and headed off to bed, followed by Tanya. Duke got up next, giving a quick friendly glance to Wildwing, but putting an arm on Nosedive's shoulder.  
  
"Good night kid." He said, almost sounding affectionately to Wildwing. "Oh, and sorry about earlier. Hope those bruises don't hurt too much."  
  
"Hey, it's cool. Man, that kick-flip you did was awesome! Night Duke." Nosedive gave a quick smile back.  
  
Duke headed off and afterwards, Wildwing noticed that Grin had also disappeared, leaving the two brothers completely alone. With the run of the couch, Nosedive switched sides, lounging back where Tanya had been sitting, Wildwing turning to face him, following the teen's example and putting his legs up on the couch. He grew a bit confused when the only thing that pursued was silence. Usually, Nosedive was a chatterbox, even in the late hours of the night. Now, he seemed quiet and actually enjoying the peacefulness of the whole scene.  
  
"Uhhh, so baby bro, what do you want to talk about?" Wildwing gave an innocent look, gazing over patiently as he awaited the first comic book or intergalactic monster-blasting video game his brother was going to likely start ranting on about. He didn't mind; it was time for just the two of them to sit in each other's company.  
  
"Oh, nothing. Actually, I think I'll go to sleep now." Nosedive stood up, stretching. He gave a wink and charming smile to his brother before saying good night and heading into his room. Wildwing just sat there for a minute, watching the door as if Nosedive would reappear a minute later and declare it was a joke. He leaned back and sighed when the door remained stationary, the faint sound of Nosedive adjusting into his sheets quietly floating along the quiet, night air. Wildwing gave a long and troubled sigh. Why hadn't he noticed this earlier? His brother seemed to be moving apart from him everyday. Since the mask had come off a couple hours ago, all the little quirks were now starting to get to him, as Wildwing grew more suspicious of his brother's connections with Duke. He decided it was time to go to sleep, since there was no other sign of life in the place. Wildwing slowly stumbled along towards his room, stopping at Nosedive's door.  
  
"Good night baby bro." He said quietly, giving another disappointed sigh as he readjusted his grip on the mask and disappeared in the darkness of his own quarters. Little did he know that Nosedive was not asleep.  
  
Nosedive sat in his bed, thinking about his times with Duke. It was so weird, but the two were actually starting to grow closer, almost like brothers themselves. On the typical missions to stop Draguanus and the other saurians, it was business as usual and the other often paid each other no more attention than the other members of the team. However, after the games and battles subsided, their time at home were often spent training in the gym or doing something together. It was the beginning of a journey that Nosedive was taking secretly, without any knowledge among the other ducks, especially his brother. He felt a little guilty about not confiding in his brother, but he knew that Wildwing would freak if he found out what Dive was actually doing. After all, it had been a long time since Wildwing and he shared any real brotherly moments together, so it seemed in Nosedive's best interest when Duke began to offer his friendship, the two beginning to confide in each other.  
  
Flashback (two months ago)  
  
Nosedive sat on the roof of the Anaheim Pond, looking out over the twilight and the lights coming on as night fell over the city. He loved these quiet moments, where he could stop being his overactive self and just calm down. Underneath the teenage facade was a maelstrom of mixed emotions. His life back on Puckworld had been miserable and as a result, many buried and painful memories were still buried deep in his mind. As much as he wanted to talk to his big brother, Wildwing, it seemed that he wasn't interested, always wrapped up in his role as leader. Nosedive cringed at the thought of the mask that was always firmly placed on Wildwing's face. It's almost as if that mask was taking his brother's attitude away. He remember winning the day against Dr. Pretorious in Sunnyville, having his brother's praise and attention, even beginning to return to his old self. Of course, that was just one day. Often, during an adventure, he was just another member of the team. It wasn't that Nosedive wanted special treatment, but he felt less like a brother and more like a subordinate. The realization and resulting depression only occurred when he had a quiet moment to dwell upon such things. Suddenly, the sounds of quiet footsteps caught Nosedive's attention. He swung his head around, startled because nobody had ever found him on the roof before.  
  
"Wing? Is that you?" he said timidly, waiting for the figure of a duck to step out of the shadows. However, it wasn't. Duke's skinny frame was painted over by moonlight and the gray avian took a seat near Nosedive.  
  
"Nah, it's only me. Would you prefer I go?" Duke said, getting his hands ready to jump back up.  
  
"No, it's alright. I wasn't expecting Wing anyway." Nosedive said, the hint of disappointment actually escaped and caught Duke's attention.  
  
"So Kid, what's the problem? Ya seem a little despondent tonight." Duke said, flashing a quick glance to him and then out to the sparkling city, his eye actually drawn upward to the stars.  
  
"Who says I have a problem?"  
  
"Well, first, you are not your usual self. Second, you told the team you were visiting Thrash and Mook, and I find you up here. You seem…almost tame." He ended off on a lighter note, Nosedive comforting slightly as he gave a quick chuckle.  
  
"I just got lots of things on my mind."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Nothing important. Just what awesome comics I'll get tomorrow." Nosedive tried to insert his trademark charm back into the conversation, but the deceptive comment died among the dry breeze.  
  
"We both know that's not it. Try me Kid. I can actually listen to others you know."  
  
"It's nothing, really. Just old memories from Puckworld." Nosedive sighed, looking up at the stars. He wondered for a moment which one of the hundreds of stars could be Puckworld's sun.  
  
"I got plenty of them too, kid." Duke added, his eyes also focused up at the sky.  
  
After a couple of silent minutes, Nosedive began to get up, ready to go back down into the Pond, but Duke grabbed his arm gently and forcing the surprised Nosedive to turn back around.  
  
"If ya ever need to talk, I'll listen Kid…" Duke said, letting go after a quick moment, eyes shifting back to the sky above. He wanted to help Nosedive, but didn't want to push anything on him since he'd likely snap back like he used to do with Wildwing in their first few months here. Now it was a year, and each day, it seemed that the brothers were separating little by little. Duke noticed how much Wildwing had worn the mask of Drake DuCaine, even at home on informal nights. He just kept the mask on as if it was glued to his face. Duke could see that Nosedive wanted to talk, to make the connections with his brother work again, yet it seemed pointless since every time he wanted to talk, Wildwing was busy on monitoring duty, or working with Tanya on some new security protocol. More recently, Nosedive asked Wildwing if he wanted to take a stroll after dark, just to talk and hang out. Nosedive was bitterly insulted when Wildwing refused, finding the idea as dangerous since "Draguanus could attack at any moment". He was a duck possessed, by a mask, and the insatiable need to prove himself a good leader to the others.  
  
Tonight, Nosedive, among all his indecisiveness and the nagging resistance of his painful memories, that he should just cave in to his resolve and give Duke a chance, just to see how far his ears would go. He bowed his head momentarily, ashamed by defeat that his own brother wouldn't talk to him. Duke was the only one that had offered an ear, besides Grin, yet the large giant always spoke in confusing riddles. While Nosedive liked Grin, he couldn't help but to feel honored that the former thief was actually offering his services. Duke was hoping that he, the young teen on the family, would open up to him. Nosedive decided with near immediate decisiveness that he was going to take the chance and share some of his problems, his fears, and his memories. He needed to, before it tore him apart just holding them inside. Nosedive uncomfortably shuffled with the thoughts of suppressing his misery, like he had in the last few months, and shifted to face Duke again.  
  
"All right, Duke."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You wanted me to talk, right?"  
  
"I won't make ya Kid…only if ya want."  
  
"And if I do?" he sat down while Duke's gaze turned to him, a hint of surprise in his eyes. Never had he expected Nosedive to trust in him so soon.  
  
"I'm listening, Kid. Go ahead and let me know what's on your mind."  
  
"Gee, where do I start."  
  
"Whatever's on your mind, no matter how pointless."  
  
"Ok then, but I warned you…" Nosedive's tone was at first casually discussing common topics on his mind: comics, the mall, and being the coolest member on his team. But, somehow, a few minutes after, Nosedive suddenly began to get more serious, drifting back into his time on Puckworld and telling small tales from scattered portions of his life.  
  
After an hour of endless story telling and recollections, some painfully recalled, Duke sat back, amazed at how this kid had turned out. All the stories of abuse and neglect; it was almost like training for the Brotherhood, but Nosedive was an innocent child thrown into the chaotic atmosphere associated with the second saurian invasion. He was tossed in the camps, separated from his brother and beaten almost daily, within inches of taking his own life when the conditions got unbearable. Even though his reunion with Wildwing was a happy one, they were almost separated again when Canard tried to draft his best friend into the resistance. Wildwing wanted to go, but he insisted that Nosedive came too, and that haunted the teen, especially since he had never gotten a chance to prove himself to Canard, something on his mind since arriving at Earth. Most of all, he felt his relationship with his brother slipping away, now because of that mask, fixating his goal on leadership and turning his eyes away from brotherhood. True, Nosedive was still "baby bro" and "little bro" and the two had their small moments, but they were far and few in between. Somehow, it had always surprised Nosedive how Wildwing expressed no concern for him when he was kidnapped by the saurians, when trying to help Buzz Blitzman. Maybe his brother already expected a rescue, but he said nothing to Nosedive upon returning to the team, and afterwards, it failed to be mentioned by either duck. It just seemed that after looking out for each other for so long, it was all falling apart since they were too busy fighting Draguanus to even care any longer. Now that Duke heard this, he had a respect for the teen greater than before. Here was Nosedive, able to hide all his feelings and still keep on a smiling face, dealing with all the trauma by himself because there was little choice. Duke knew that this duck was something special, and he wanted to help him, at the same time, help himself with admitting things on his mind for a long time. He turned back over to Nosedive, whose eyes were once again facing upward, now focused upon the moon.  
  
"Hey kid…" Duke nudged Nosedive lightly, who in turn, faced Duke. "How much do ya know about the Brotherhood?"  
  
"Only what you've told me, why?" Nosedive was curious, having no idea where this conversation was going.  
  
"I wanted to tell ya that I'm surprised with just how complex ya are, Kid. So many problems, yet you've had no one to tell them to. In the Brotherhood, we always work together and help each other out of tight situations. Normally, we are a very secret society, locking up everything and stuffin' it away, keeping things between ourselves. Yet, I'm not technically a member anymore, and I've been wonderin' if it ever becomes time that I want to talk, especially since I ain't gettin' any younger…" He looked back to Nosedive, caught up on his words, feeling a bit awkward trying to ask straight out like he was doing. He decided to continue on a slightly different note. "Kid, no matter what anybody says, I always found ya an important member of team. Ya don't give up and I admire that. Certain ducks may not like your attitude, but I find it refreshing. I've been thinkin' that it's time I start passing on some of the things I know, to teach someone else how to play the game. I've never had someone for myself to confide in and there has been many times where I wish I could."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"But, how about the team?"  
  
"It's not that easy, Kid."  
  
"Then, why are you telling me this?"  
  
" I want to know if you want to be that duck." Duke replied with a deadly serious tone. Nosedive was almost stunned, his beak slightly drooping open before he caught it.  
  
"You…want to open up to me?" he stumbled a bit with surprise.  
  
"In a way. I don't want to make ya feel uncomfortable, I have to ask ya don't tell anybody else. After all, even if I'm not in the Brotherhood, I still keep quiet on a lot of stuff. I'm not gonna burden ya Kid. I just wanna tell you some things I've learned from my experiences."  
  
"But, isn't there anyone else you'd want to give the honor to?" Nosedive's head sunk a bit; he thought he was admitting the truth.  
  
"Honor? You consider this a honor?"  
  
"Yeah…"  
  
"I wouldn't call it that, Kid."  
  
"Well, what would you call it?"  
  
"I call it, adopting a confidante. Oh, and there is one other thing to clear up."  
  
"What's that?" Duke put a hand on Nosedive's shoulder before speaking.  
  
"Believe me, Kid, there's no one on this team that I think is more deserving than you. Everyone's got their good points, but I just know that you are something special."  
  
"M…me?"  
  
"Of course. The first thing you got to learn is confidence in yourself." Duke chuckled, standing up. "Believe me, no other duck on this team hasn't been able to take all life threw at us like you. Not to mention that as much as I like the team, they all got their quirks, and none of them have been able to put up with me in the way you have. Kid, you got a lot of potential, and I want to see that go to a good use. I could teach you plenty of things…you only need to want them. Let me know, Kid, no rush." He got up and started to walk away slowly.  
  
Nosedive never realized how much faith Duke had in him. At the same time as he seemed like an old and mysterious duck, he now had an honestly and a kindness to him that Nosedive was attracted to, almost like a father figure. He gave passing thoughts about training under Duke, possibly becoming like a student and learning to fight as he did. He heard Duke's praises and he began to second-guess it, but at the same time, felt a connection and thought that this was a once-in-a-lifetime offer that he should accept. Duke wanted to pass on some of his knowledge, lacking a family or any other ducks that he might want to share his knowledge with, and Nosedive felt that if his own brother wouldn't hear him, Duke would listen. At the same time, since no one else was available for Duke to talk to like he wanted, Nosedive didn't want the older mallard to remain miserable in his own thoughts. After all, Duke had helped him began to get a few things off his chest. He continued to dwell on it and after a few moments, he left the rooftop, heading back down to their living quarters. He saw Duke overlooking the rink in thoughtful silence and approached him carefully. Duke turned his gaze to the teen as he sped up a little to meet Duke, facing him with a sincere smile, a bit different from the playful he was famous for.  
  
"Duke…I accept." Nosedive said, holding out his hand, trying to sound more formal and respectful than his usual youthful zeal would demonstrate. Duke took his hand and they shook on it.  
  
(Present Day)  
  
Nosedive laid back in his bed, and closed his eyes. The last few weeks with Duke have really been enlightening. He learned a lot about sneaking around, a bit about hacking (and found it easy to do on the Drake One), and was now training with poles in order to get a better idea of how a duck saber worked. Besides acting as a confidante for Duke, he was becoming sort of an apprentice, which pleased Duke when he discovered the teen's interest in his skills. Maybe one day down the line, he may actually become a member of the Brotherhood. After all, they weren't all bad, but the scrutiny he and Duke would face by the other Mighty Ducks made it into a hidden desire, a secret that teased his mind enjoyably. Nosedive closed his eyes and quickly drifted into a restful sleep. For the first night in a long time, clean of the nightmares that were haunting him in the night.  
  
The next morning was another practice day. All the ducks had slept in a little bit, with the exception of Grin, who was meditating bright and early. During the practice, Nosedive couldn't help feeling watched by his brother, who seemed to keep his gaze well cloaked under his characteristic mask. Besides talking and practicing with each other, Duke and Nosedive had also played hockey together and were beginning to work on a variety of double-team moves, much to the surprise of the team, considering the competitiveness of both ducks. Several times, the two had executed a plan of attack so well, that they were able to get the upper hand on their sparring partners and score a few goals on Wildwing. After practice, Wildwing wanted to speak with the two about their recent partnership, because even though it went against some of the plays the team discussed, it was working remarkably well. Even Mallory, usually very angry when someone don't go by the book, was a bit complementary at their strategies after practice  
  
"So when have you two learned to work together like that?" she gave a suspicious grin as they entered the locker room.  
  
"You're just jealous Mal-Mal!" Nosedive laughed, getting a fellow grin from Duke as they both opened up their lockers.  
  
"Yeah Mal. The kid and I decided it was better to cooperate since it really seems to be helping out the team." Duke added, putting his pads away.  
  
"Nevertheless, you did break on some plays..." Wildwing interrupted in a recessively stern tone, now standing in the door. His reservations soon fizzled away and he followed suite, undressing along with the others.  
  
"Hey, don't be mad big bro. After all, we trounced you!" Nosedive gave a hearty laugh, amusing Wildwing.  
  
"Don't get confident little bro. I was letting you get those shots because your hatching day is coming up." Wildwing countered back, also starting to chuckle as he gave a playful punch on Nosedive's shoulder with a gloved hand.  
  
"Please, that's the lamest excuse in the history of Puckworld!" Nosedive rolled his eyes as he finished packing his jersey away in the closet. "Man, that brother's handbook of yours must be defective or something; I'd return it."  
  
"Well, the handbook never said they had to be good."  
  
"Yeah, but I bet it has something to do with being jealous of this daring duck's moves!" he jumped up on the bench, striking a pose to brandish his muscles. Tanya and Duke stifled laughs, while Mallory folded her arms, trying to look unimpressed while holding back her amusement.  
  
"You wish, little bro…" Wildwing quipped, turning around and pretending to ignore Nosedive as he continued posing on the bench, grunting like the bodybuilders in the gym. After a moment, he jumped down and made a face at his brother.  
  
"My big bro, the bald eagle!" Nosedive joked, knowing it would get Wildwing's attention.  
  
"I'm not bald!" he turned around, pointing a finger at Nosedive. "I'm warning you. The handbook says I don't have to deal with this!"  
  
"I think Phil has the number of a great hair club…but I wonder if they treat birds."  
  
"I'm not bald!"  
  
"What are you going to do big bro, peck me?" Nosedive laughed, eyeing Wildwing and striking a karate pose. The other ducks stopped putting their gear away watched with interest. They found the sibling rivalry really funny when it was particularly pointless, like today.  
  
"Alright, that's it! Come here little bro!" Wildwing dashed after him, large arms outstretched. Nosedive flew out of the room, into the shower area.  
  
"Are you molting, baldy?!" Nosedive's voice echoed from the showers after both avians were gone from sight, enticing a round of snickering from the other ducks.  
  
"Nosedive Nicholas Flashbeak! When I catch you, you are so in trouble!" The others heard the sounds of yelling deflected off the porcelain tiles as Wildwing caught Nosedive, tickling and capturing him in a headlock. After a few minutes, the action died down and soon, they both emerged with Nosedive in a headlock and ruffled hair, to the group of snickering teammates. Nosedive and Wildwing eased up and laughed it off before putting their equipment away. It was another one of those rare moments. Duke saw out of the corner of his eye the look of disdain on Nosedive's face as the mask of Drake DuCaine was repositioned on Wildwing's face, his laughter and light- hearted mood automatically sobered.  
  
After showering and heading back down to the living quarters to take the afternoon off before the big game, Nosedive was down in his room, preparing to head out with Duke. The two were going to go and talk a bit, hanging out like they've done as of late. Duke didn't mind checking out the mall, and Nosedive was always up for a trip. All of a sudden, he heard a knock at the door while he was about to put on some socks. The door opened with Wildwing standing there, in a big hockey sweatshirts and jeans. To Nosedive's surprise, the mask was not on his face any longer and was completely dressed in casual clothes, a rare occurrence these days. The playfulness quickly revived itself.  
  
"Watch it, I know sock-fu…" Nosedive was playfully challenging for round two, striking a defensive pose, spinning his socks like nunchuks.  
  
"No, I'm not here about that. I was wondering if you wanted to go to the mall with me?" Wildwing gave a kind smile, winning his brother's affections.  
  
"Seriously?"  
  
"Of course. We haven't gone together in a long time, so I was thinking it was about time. What do you say Dive?"  
  
"Sure Wing! I was already heading to the mall, so just come with us!" he said, grabbing his wallet and watch from his nightstand. Wildwing's smile faded just a little, but Nosedive didn't notice when he looked back at him quickly, on the way down the hall.  
  
"Hey Duke!" Nosedive knocked on Duke's door. "Wing's coming with us, if you don't mind."  
  
"The more the merrier…" Duke said, opening the door, adjusting has collar and walking with Nosedive back down to Wildwing. The leader was slightly dissatisfied with the scenario, but carefully hid his disappointment.  
  
"Cool. It's just about the time of the month for some new comics!" Nosedive said, fingering the various bills in his wallet. "Just hope I got enough!"  
  
"You don't call that enough?" Duke joked, pointing to a fifty-dollar bill that he spotted in the wallet.  
  
"Hey, that's my food money! See?" Nosedive was pointing at two distinctive folds of the wallet, each with money. "Comic book money…food money! You get it?" Nosedive emphasized merrily, joking on with Duke, both enjoying each other's company. All of a sudden, Wildwing felt like an awkward third wheel and had second thoughts about the trip since he had drifted out of the attention of the other two.  
  
"Uh, wait a sec." Wildwing pushed into the conversation.  
  
"What, big bro?"  
  
"I just remembered I got to take care of something. I'll stop by the mall later."  
  
"Do it later, come on Wing!"  
  
"Sorry, Dive. It's important."  
  
"Oh, come on. You're being major lame!" Nosedive pouted a bit, feeling bitter that Wildwing was going to drop out of the trip after he had shied from the mall in past months.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll be there real soon. I'll see you guys there." Wildwing headed back, walking as if he did have something important to do, but once they were out of sight, he slowed down, and walked back to the Pond, disappointed, hands in his pocket and feet dragging along the concrete ground. He turned around, watching the two specks on the horizon, feeling slightly rejected. He opened the front door to the Pond, heading back inside.  
  
The Anaheim Mall was crowded on this particular Sunday. The local sports shop, displaying a variety of Mighty Ducks memorabilia, was selling out faster than Duke could believe. He gazed over the endless lines of shops with bustling crowds, while Nosedive was staring at the newest comic book, perfectly navigating his way through the people without even glancing up. "Well, his navigational skills don't need any work…" Duke thought, grinning to himself. They headed to the food court, where Nosedive happily retrieved a pile of food to assist him in reading the comics.  
  
"Geez kid, don't you ever get full?" Duke looked up from his cup of coffee and salad, seeing the tray bearing hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, and other assorted munchies.  
  
"Hey, growing kid here! Besides, I need my energy for tonight."  
  
"You'll need a bigger jersey tonight!" Duke watched with disbelief as Nosedive devoured an entire double cheeseburger with one bite.  
  
"With metabolism like mine, my perfect manly figure always stays intact!" he beamed, now taking a bite out of a hot dog. "Besides, you need good food when you're reading comics. It's hard work!"  
  
"Reading is hard work?!"  
  
"No, being hungry and looking at comics is hard work!"  
  
Duke grinned and sat back, turning to watch the people. He loved the confidence that Nosedive projected and mentally reminded himself how he chose this energetic teenager to take into his confidence. What reassured him most of all was that underneath that façade was a serious and virtuous soul, always willing to help out anybody in trouble. However, now, he was sloppily stuffing his face, looking at Captain Blasto, while a number of girls at the adjacent tables were watching him dreamily. Of course, Nosedive never seemed to notice. Everything seemed to be going great, until the sound of an explosion racked the food court and people dashed for cover, screaming in a raging panic. Nosedive dropped his comic and pizza slice and immediately jumped from his seat with Duke, changing to battle mode and preparing their puck blasters. In the distance, they saw a number of Draguanus' robots, with Chameleon laughing at the chaos.  
  
"Freeze, saurian scum!" Nosedive yelled, cocking the gun and running down the commons, while Duke supported him from the side.  
  
Chameleon morphed into Jenny Jones and grabbed a dislodged pay phone, using it as a microphone. "Today on Jenny Jones, meet the Mighty Ducks…and their doom!" he snapped his fingers, and the robots started descending towards them.  
  
"Take the left! I got the right!" Duke dashed over, blasting one robot to bits, and delivering a jump kick to the next one, causing it to collapse over two others. Nosedive activated his skates and spun around one robot, while blasting a couple others. The dazed robot's head popped off like a wine cork.  
  
"Is it just me or do these guys get cheaper every week?" the teen grinned, turning towards Chameleon, who watched with a sly smile on his face.  
  
"It was a two-for-one deal. They're cheap, so sue me!" the saurian bantered off, now looking like an attorney. Turning back to normal, he tried to charge Nosedive. Nosedive cunningly leaped over Chameleon and spun around, daring him to try again. Duke dispatched of the last stray robot and now joined Nosedive.  
  
"So, what's this all about?" Duke said angrily, aiming his blaster at the saurian villain.  
  
"Oh, Draguanus was in one of the those not-so-good moods and decided to spread a little destruction. So, adios duckies!" he activated the transporter, at the same time pushing a button on his belt. All of a sudden, an explosion racked the battle scene, and the two ducks leaped out of the way. Duke landed a short distance away, under ruined potted plants and a rack of bikinis. Embarrassed, he quickly slid out, distancing himself from the lingerie and looking around for Nosedive.  
  
"Hey, kid, where are ya?" his gaze following the faces of frightened shoppers, glued to the storefront windows, watching the celebrity hockey players with fear painted on their expressions. After a couple of seconds, Nosedive came out from under a pile of rubble and give a grin.  
  
"Oh yeah, can't knock me down!" he quipped with a groan, clutching the back of his left leg. A piece of metal was impaled just about an inch above the ankle, yet with relief, the wound didn't seem serious to Duke.  
  
"You did great kid, and I can tell for certain that you are learning." Duke said, pulling out the metal object and tying a piece of nearby fabric around the wound. "Your reaction time is so well improved. The old Nosedive probably wouldn't have been able to survive that without some serious injuries."  
  
"You mean it, Duke?"  
  
"Of course I do, Kid. Great job…" he looked up, seeing the Aerowing hovering above. Wildwing and Mallory slid down on ropes and ran up to them.  
  
"Are you two alright?" Wildwing asked, the mask donned once again, as he took a quick scan for injuries.  
  
"So much for the casual apparel." Nosedive thought to himself.  
  
"Yeah, the kid and I are fine. Chameleon and some of those tin turkeys showed up to stir up trouble."  
  
"Why would Draguanus attack the mall?" Mallory looked around, surveying the damage. "That saurian scum could have hurt or killed lots of people today."  
  
"I hope no one's hurt…" Nosedive also looked around, giving a sigh of relief when he was unable to spot any bodies lying among the rubble. The ducks helped out the startled shoppers until the ambulances and police arrived. After heading around the battle scene, Wildwing found Nosedive at the food court, checking out the spot where he had sat earlier. He looked stunned.  
  
"What's wrong Dive?"  
  
"Someone stole my comics and ruined my lunch! You save the day, and what do people do?! They steal your stuff!" he gave one of those dramatics looks of shock, clearly joking, but still a little peeved after losing a good fourty dollars worth of comics and food. He took a step forward, but grit his teeth when he felt pain shooting up his leg. Wildwing seemed not to notice and went right past him, asking some bystanders what they had witnessed earlier. Later, back at the Pond, Tanya was helping Nosedive with his injured leg while Wildwing and Duke were discussing the attack on the mall.  
  
"I have no idea why they attacked us, fearless leader. We were having lunch and next second, an explosion rattles the area."  
  
"Hmmm, I still wonder what Draguanus' motives were."  
  
"Maybe he doesn't have any."  
  
"Possible, but usually he has something up his sleeve."  
  
"Yeah, but last I checked, the mall isn't exactly the place to get beryllium crystals."  
  
"Well, nevertheless, I'm glad to hear there were no causalities." Windwing said, the mask failing to convey any signs of relief that appeared on his face. He started to walk away, but Duke grabbed his arm quickly.  
  
"Hey, you should be proud of the kid. We were caught in the explosion, but his instincts prevented some serious injuries."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah. He really did a great job today."  
  
"I'll have to talk to him."  
  
"Do that."  
  
Duke walked off and Wildwing headed to the infirmary, where Tanya had just finished bandaging Nosedive's leg. Tanya stood up and gave a look of admiration to her work.  
  
"Yup, good as new." She smiled, wiping her forehead.  
  
"Thanks, Tauny." Nosedive grinned, his face twisting to an expression of pain when he tried to jump off the bed.  
  
"You should take it easy for a few days, Nosedive. After all, that object did impale itself deep enough to tear your calf muscle." Tanya cautioned and noticed Wildwing standing near the door.  
  
"You should take a few days off from hockey." the leader commented, walking over the bed, taking the mask off and setting it on the neighboring table. "You did a great job today, baby bro."  
  
"Thanks. Man, but do I owe Chameleon a little favor!" he gave a little mischievous grin. His brother returned a smile and put an arm on his shoulder.  
  
"I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you." Wildwing said quietly, looking a little guilty. He knew it would have gone much differently if he didn't slide out of the trip at the last minute.  
  
"Hey, don't sweat it big bro. Duke's watching my back!" Nosedive said confidently. He missed the quick look of jealously that flashed in Wildwing's eyes, hidden under the mask that was then relocated on his face.  
  
Walking out, Wildwing felt pangs of insecurity, and started to wonder why he was still unhappy with the relationship between Nosedive and Duke. After all, they were both teammates and supposed to work together under these types of circumstances. However, the continuing fears of losing his brother were beginning to occur more often. This past night, he had a dream where Nosedive was actually calling Duke his big bro. Wildwing could feel his nerves tense as Duke passed him and headed into the infirmary to check on Nosedive. He quickly brushed his aggression away, as quickly as the feelings had come, and headed to the ready room to have a tactical meeting with Mallory, Tanya, and Grin. A few minutes later, after Duke had visited Nosedive, he joined in on the conversation that was in progress.  
  
"It appears that one of the factories on the west end had reported a robbery at the same time as the attack on the mall was carried out." Tanya said, displaying a picture of the building on the giant screen.  
  
"What does this factory produce, Tanya?" Wildwing asked, staring up at the image.  
  
"It appears that they manufacture a special steel alloy, one more powerful then made through typical steel production."  
  
"Reports say a giant, orange saurian…Siege most likely, was leading the robbery." Mallory frowned, looking back at her teammates. "It seems that the attack on the mall was only a distraction."  
  
"So, the saurians are actually gettin' a little devious." Duke added, returning Mallory's look before turning to the others.  
  
"Do you have any idea where they may attack next, or what this alloy may be used on?" Wildwing asked, his arms folded tightly over his chest.  
  
"Well, unfortunately no. That alloy could be used for about anything." Tanya said, typing up a few buttons on the computer to bring up a chemical model of the alloy. "I have a feeling that Draguanus is using it to build something, but I'm not sure what."  
  
"Whatever it is, it's going to be trouble until we find out what it is." Mallory said, Windwing nodding in return.  
  
"Alright. We got a hockey game tonight and an injured teammate, so let's place Nosedive on monitors while we get this game underway. Tomorrow, we will begin looking at these components and interview some of the scientists at the factory. Dismissed." Wildwing said, turning to the screen and looking at the picture of the alloy again before whispering to himself. "I have a bad feeling about this…"  
  
Mallory stopped by the infirmary after leaving the ready room and saw Nosedive laying in the bed, staring at the ceiling, his eyes glazed with boredom. He looked up and saw her coming up, towering over him. The typical aggressive features in her eyes seemed subdued for the time being and the small smile on her beak almost looked gentle.  
  
"Hey, Mal Mal."  
  
"Hello, Nosedive. You alright?"  
  
"Oh yeah. But you gotta help me escape this boredom! I'm going out of my mind!" he sat up, conjuring up a mockingly painful look.  
  
"Not so fast, Nosedive. Wildwing says you're on monitor duty tonight."  
  
"You gotta be kidding! That's worse than being grounded!" he jumped out of the bed, his injured leg slightly losing its sturdiness upon hitting the ground. Nosedive grunted a pained breath, and stood upright.  
  
"Where's Wing?"  
  
"Still in the ready room."  
  
"I'll show him a thing or two about monitor duty..." He paced off while Mallory rolled her eyes.  
  
Wildwing was still talking to Tanya when Nosedive entered the room. Their attention turned to him when he came walking up to the pair.  
  
"So, big bro, what's the deal with putting me on monitors?!" he demanded, his seriousness not conveyed well enough to earn his brother's sympathies.  
  
"Well, you're injured and pretty much out of hockey. Besides, someone's got to look out for Draguanus' next move. He kept us busy dealing with the mall while Siege made off with tons of steel alloy."  
  
"Hey, I didn't ask about lizard lips! Who says I can't play hockey?" Nosedive said, his voice shot up a notch with disapproval. Tanya entered the conversation on Wildwing's behalf.  
  
"Nosedive, you risk more damage to your leg if you play. You need to take it easy."  
  
"Come on, Tauny, I'm not that wimpy."  
  
"It's still better to rest it for the time being."  
  
"In front of the monitors? Is this some sort of punishment or something?"  
  
"Dive, quit complaining." Wildwing snapped. "You're on monitors tonight and it's final!" he finished, walking out of the room. Nosedive was angry and even a little shocked. His brother usually didn't snap at him angrily, even when he was complaining. He embarrassingly slumped out of the room, his shoulders sunk into his sullen form.  
  
Nosedive headed up to the rink to be alone and caught Duke getting a little bit of practice. Seeing Nosedive, he skated over to meet him.  
  
"So what's the story?"  
  
"You're on your own tonight. I'm on guard duty and Wing's getting snappy."  
  
"Snappy?"  
  
"Yeah. He lost his patience and kind of snapped at me. Man, what a bummer…"  
  
"Sorry, kid."  
  
"Yeah, I know. What's with Wing, anyway? He seems to be grumpier now."  
  
"I don't know. He hasn't seemed too cheerful these days. I've been getting the cold shoulder from him too."  
  
"Geez, what a crappy day." Nosedive threw his arms up and headed out again. He had a slight limp as he headed down to the living quarters and reentered. Going to the surveillance monitors with a pile of comics, he grimaced at the boredom as he began flipping through pages of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Armadillos. "I thought turtles would have been better…" Nosedive muttered to himself.  
  
Later that night, the team was beginning to prepare for the game, practicing as the fans started filling in the bleachers. Nosedive watched the crowds over a monitor, but the ducks were so small, they seemed like little specks. He went back to his comics, momentarily bringing his eyes up to scan over the monitors. The game started some time later, without incident. The ducks were facing off against the Colorado Avalanche, and pulled out 3-1 by the end of the first period. Huddling together, a look of disappointment was showing in Duke's eyes.  
  
"I know this could be better if we had the kid with us."  
  
"Well, we're still in the lead, so don't worry yet!" Wildwing argued back, curtly discussing with the team a couple changes in strategy before heading back into the game.  
  
The Avalanche started to experience a resurgence and within a couple minutes, just short of the game's conclusion, the ducks were behind them, 3- 4. Duke had been checked against the boards multiple times and was rubbing his tail feathers in pain when they called a time out. Phil was glancing at them with a bit of panic in his chubby face.  
  
"Come on boobies! Make this work! You can show them!" he demanded, waving his clipboard and cell phone wildly. Duke knew that with Nosedive, they'd easily win it. Mallory and Tanya were growing a bit dissatisfied with how the game was turning out and under Duke's insistence, began to think their comrade would be a help to the team.  
  
"We'll make it!" Wildwing barked back at the manager, sounding a bit angry, facing their impending loss.  
  
Nosedive was watching it all from above. It took two hours to learn how to move and zoom the camera. He saw the score along with his brother's hostility and was growing increasingly edge. He wanted to help out the team, but knew he wasn't allowed to leave his post and assist.  
  
"Oh, what the heck…I'm a teen. I'm supposed to get into trouble!" All of a sudden, Duke's com buzzed and the team peered over as Nosedive's face popped up.  
  
"So, how ya doing?" Nosedive grinned, showing the score with his outstretched fingers.  
  
"Kid, we could use ya to get this game in high gear!" Duke replied for Wildwing, staring with arched his eyebrows under the mask.  
  
"Any problems?" Tanya leaned over.  
  
"Nah, nada. It's boring as hell down there. Come on, let me come up and help!" he gave a mock pleading look, but he seriously wanted to escape the boredom.  
  
"Your leg!" she reminded him.  
  
"It's fine and dandy!" he said. "Take a time out and I'll join in to help."  
  
By then, most of the team was about ready to let him join in and win the game, even Tanya, but Wildwing still seemed opposed to the idea.  
  
"You can't and you won't." he said, activating his com to talk directly to Nosedive.  
  
"What's that? I can't hear you…you're fading out!" Nosedive started to chuckle as he changed the frequency rapidly to encourage static. Deactivating the com to refuse any incoming calls, he checked his watch quickly.  
  
"I got about three minutes to get upstairs and dressed." Nosedive said to himself, dashing towards the front door and up the stairs to the locker area. Even though his leg was consistently trying to slow him down with pain, he quickly donned his uniform in record time and the other ducks looked over as the audience began cheering for Nosedive's sudden arrival in the rink.  
  
"Hi guys, lemme play!" he took a demanding stance, meeting disapproval from Wildwing, whose ineffectual mask coldly stared him down disapprovingly.  
  
"Boobie, you got to help us!" Phil shouted out, breaking up the tense moment. "We need you to pull some stops out, boobula! We got a minute left! We need to win!"  
  
"Leave it to me, Phil-meister!" he beamed, skating out on the ice. Wildwing was very angry with the stunt, but he had to go with it since the fans were very supportive of the young player. Tanya decided to sit out and the ducks were ready to play again. Within twenty seconds, Nosedive had scored a goal on the Avalanche, tying the score.  
  
"See, you guys needed me!" he grinned to Mallory and Duke, who both approved. At least the score was tied now.  
  
Duke and Nosedive skated together, discussing their last play of the night, as they had practiced it. They mentioned it to Mallory and Grin, who went on defensive. As the buzzer started, the ducks had to puck with ten seconds to go. Nosedive and Duke did their double team, rapidly passing back and forth. However, with four seconds left and almost to the goal, one of the opposing players pulled an illegal move and tripped Nosedive by hooking him forcefully with the hockey stick. Ironically, the pressure was applied directly on the injury. He fell to the ground, his teeth bared with searing pain, leaving Duke to take the puck alone. Before he could score, the whistle was blown and the ducks had to reinsert Tanya in the game after Grin helped Nosedive out of the rink. The game had ended in a tie and went into overtime. Nosedive watched over a small monitor back in the locker room infirmary as the ducks just narrowly missing when they tried to intercept the puck and the Avalanche made the goal, Wildwing unable to block it. The ducks had lost and Nosedive yelled out at the television in anger and tried to stand up, laying back on the table and grabbing his leg as it pounded in pain.  
  
The night didn't get any better. The ducks were very somber about the loss and Phil was particularly miserable, shocked that his team had actually lost. When the ducks got back into the living quarters after a restless undressing in the locker room, Wildwing confronted Nosedive and he was livid.  
  
"How dare you leave your post and join the game!"  
  
"Hey, I wanted to help!"  
  
"Not like that! Now you just got hurt even more!"  
  
"Only because they were sticking…the cheaters!"  
  
"I told you before not to get involved! You can't take a single order or what?!" he yelled, the mask still on and preventing Nosedive from seeing his damning glance.  
  
"Oh, that was an order? Well, excuse me, I think I have the authority to tell when I can join a game!"  
  
"Don't you EVER question my orders or take matters into your own hands! I'm the leader and what says goes! You got it?!" Wildwing barked right up in Nosedive's face, looking as if he was ready to fight. Nosedive didn't stand a chance against the larger mallard and pulled back, his fists tensing in silent fury.  
  
"Alright…fine." he seethed, humiliated when he noticed that all the ducks were watching the argument. Facing the mask again, he felt his eyes began to buckle with tears and stormed into his room quickly to prevent the others from seeing.  
  
Nosedive kicked a pair of pants away angrily, giving a last sniffle to rid himself of the tears. He couldn't believe that his brother yelled at him like that, asserting his leadership and pushing him around. He just wanted to help the team and instead, was nearly crucified for his efforts. Not to mention that his leg was now in worse shape then before. Suddenly, his leg became immobilized with sharp pain, and he collapsed to the ground, but it didn't matter to the teen. He just sat in a heap silently, a few hot tears rolling down his face, but wiped away with impatience. A little bit later, after he recovered from the pain, he heard a knock on the door.  
  
"Come in." he turned away, expecting Wildwing, but it was Tanya. She came in to expect the wound.  
  
"Look, Tauny, I'm sorry…" he started, his muddling stopped by Tanya, who put a finger up to quiet him.  
  
"Don't worry, I'm not mad at you. I just thought it was foolish. You did do good when you were out there, I'll admit. Besides, you already got enough yelling for tonight." She said, re-dressing the bandage and inspecting for damage. There was now a bruise surrounding the wound, which had been opened again, bleeding down his leg and staining his pants.  
  
"I feel bad about leaving security, but we had our coms connected to Drake One's alarm." Nosedive tried a second attempt to defend his actions.  
  
"Yeah, I know."  
  
Nosedive sighed. He remained silent as Tanya finished, placing the old dressing in a plastic bag. She stood there for a while, not saying anything, looking down at Nosedive. She pitied him a bit, yet wasn't sure what she could do to help him feel better. It really seemed that Wildwing had been edgy lately, but only with him had she noticed any real animosity. That was the most confusing thing because the two were brothers, and had a special bond that all the Mighty Ducks had noticed before. Why would they be at each other's throats like that?  
  
"You…ok, Nosedive?" she stuttered with hesitation. Tanya was not one to usually help others address their feelings.  
  
"Wing's being a major wacko…that's it." He muttered, remaining seated on the floor, looking straight ahead with hurt in his eyes. Tanya felt a little awkward and not knowing how to help him anymore, headed out the room.  
  
Nosedive was in bed later that night, staring at the ceiling, still feeling pangs of anger rising up inside of him. Another knock had come at the door, but Nosedive didn't know who to except this time.  
  
"Who is it?" he mumbled, barely audible.  
  
"It's me, Kid." Nosedive heard Duke's voice come through the steel door. It slid open and the gray mallard strolled into the room. Nosedive saw that behind Duke, the lights were out, indicating that everyone was already asleep. The clock, which was turned away, was spun back around, its green numbers stating it was 1:27 in the morning.  
  
"Can't sleep, huh kid?"  
  
"No…not really. I'm still angry."  
  
"I never heard him talk like that to you."  
  
"Neither did I…it was so embarrassing."  
  
"Don't tell anyone kid, but I think the other ducks were not very happy with the way fearless leader addressed you earlier." He gave a weak grin, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Even Mallory was almost sympathetic."  
  
"Thanks…" Nosedive grunted lowly, his eyes still showing a great deal of hurt and confusion.  
  
"Hey kid. Don't worry. Wildwing's just a little angry since Draguanus got off with that steel alloy."  
  
"I guess..."  
  
"It'll be fine." Duke stood up, tapping Nosedive's shoulder in support. "I'll see ya tomorrow Kid."  
  
"Good night Duke. Thanks."  
  
"No prob." He said, heading out into the darkness, disappearing before the doors shut in Nosedive again, leaving him to his thoughts. Not a moment passed until the Drake One's alarm suddenly blasted the silence. The ducks rapidly dismounted from their beds and hurried to the ready room.  
  
"Draguanus is simultaneously attacking three places at once!" Tanya yelled to the other ducks (except Nosedive), showing them a map of Anaheim with the three locations highlighted.  
  
"This is going to be tough. We have to split the team up. Tanya and I will take the Aerowing and go to the farthest location. Mallory, you and Grin head to the second location in the Migrator. Duke…can you handle the third?"  
  
"Sure, I'm tough." Duke gave a confident smile.  
  
"Let's go ducks!" Wildwing yelled, and the three teams separated.  
  
Duke had to use a Duckcycle, but the keys were over by the front door, so he had to make a quick trip to fetch them. Running down the hall, he was intercepted by a Nosedive, holding the keys and flashing a mischievous grin to indicate he wanted to go.  
  
"Come on, Duke, you know you want me to come!"  
  
"Fearless leader will clip both our beaks if I let you."  
  
"Oh, come on Duke. Be a pal. Besides, I might be able to help you."  
  
Duke didn't have time to argue, so he agreed. To his surprise, Nosedive was able to stay at Duke's heels, regardless of the injuries. They both hopped onto Duckcycles and sped out of the Pond, heading for the third location, catching a quick glimpse of the Aerowing a distance away. Unbridled Technologies was their target, where it appeared Draguanus' lackeys were searching for rocket fuel. As they pulled up the main drive to the factory, Duke had the suspicion that they were being watched. Sure enough, Wraith saw the approaching Duckcycle through a window and turned over to his ally, a shady character standing in the shadows.  
  
"I trust you know what to do…"  
  
"Of course I do. This will be very enjoyable." The figure shifted into the shadows and disappeared, leaving Wraith to watch the clueless heroes park their motorcycles and sneak up to the entrance.  
  
Duke and Nosedive approached the door, and found it locked. Duke pulled out a small metal wire out of his pocket and gave Nosedive a sneaky grin.  
  
"Want to try, Kid?"  
  
"Definitely!" Nosedive exclaimed, keeping his voice low. He bent the wire like Duke shown him and slowly inserted it into the lock, reciting all the steps in his mind as he delicately worked with the wire. Within a couple of seconds, he heard a soft click and he was able to open the door.  
  
"You got it!" Duke smiled as Nosedive handed him back the wire, sneaking inside.  
  
The sounds of Dragunaus' laboring robots and the deep voice of Wraith was floating over the ducks' heads. Duke poked Nosedive in the shoulder and waved his hand to have the teen follow. Veering to the right, the two went down the empty corridor a short distance, passing by offices until Duke spotted a door labeled 'stairs'. Finding it unlocked, they went up quietly and came out into a hallway, seeing Wraith down at the very end, through an open door, standing over towards the window, watching the work that the robots were carrying out. Duke motioned for Nosedive to go around to the side, so he could come out in front of the minion. Nosedive obeyed, sliding off to the right and along the interior of the main production floor, watching below as Draguanus' drones carried out their tasks. Duke took the direct route, keeping his eyes on Wraith at all times, slowly crawling along the shadows. Suddenly, he felt a sharp blow to the back of the head and feel unconscious, drawing Wraith's attention, who was pleasantly surprised to see that his "assistant" had successfully disabled one of the two ducks. To complete the surprise, Nosedive jumped out, twin puck blasters ready.  
  
"Give up, saurian simpleton!" he blurted out, grinning at his snide insult.  
  
"Stupid duck, can't you ever stop being so idiotic?" Wraith leaned his head to the door where a duck, fully dressed in black, wearing a hood, was holding an unconscious Duke.  
  
"Oh crap…" Nosedive muttered under his breath. "Drop him!" Nosedive tried to sound authoritative, aiming one of his puck blasters at each of the two enemies. However, his confidence was not as solid with Duke out of commission.  
  
Wraith gave a disinterested frown and quickly transported out, leaving the mysterious duck to deal with Nosedive. Throwing Duke against the wall, Nosedive noticed that his friend was starting to stir a bit, however, it did little for the teen, who was stuck defensively moving in a circle, staring down the other duck. Hoping to spend a little time stalling the enemy in order to get Duke in on the action, Nosedive decided to start a conversation.  
  
"So, is black the fashion now?" he gave a little grin, pointing his puck blaster at his enemy.  
  
"It's all you'll be seeing in a minute…" the mysterious duck muttered, his hood along with a combination of the dim lights hiding his expressions from Nosedive. To the teen's relief, Duke was getting up, looking very angry.  
  
"Cheap shot, Bladebeak."  
  
The duck turned to face Duke, giving a small laugh to see him standing there, ready to battle. He removed his hood to eliminate any doubts that he was anything other than a duck. Nosedive also saw why Duke had called him "Bladebeak"; the end of his beak was surprisingly thin, and seemed particularly sharp.  
  
"I thought it was you, Duke. Missed me?"  
  
"I didn't know the Brotherhood lowered their standards…" Duke sneered, holding his blade in hand, keeping his eyes constantly focused on the duck.  
  
"No, you got them wrong Duke. I decided to follow suite with what you did and quit. After a short while fighting against my former employers, I came under the employment of someone much more rewarding."  
  
"Scum…to think you'd be working for Draguanus, after what he did to our people." Duke lowered his eyebrows.  
  
"Hey, it's the money!" Bladebeak snickered, now slowly circling Duke, waiting for one to strike the first blow. Nosedive stood back and watched, momentarily turning back to see that all the robots were already gone with Wraith. It was just the two of them and this so-called former member of the Brotherhood.  
  
"You proud of selling yourself? You're pond scum, a traitor to your people."  
  
"Watch it Duke. Don't forget who chipped your beak…" he gave a haunting little sneer and gripped his sword a little tighter.  
  
"I did worse to you…" Duke snickered, pointing to his chest with his blade  
  
"True, that was quite a scar…but I got better. Now, let's not waste time catching up on old times and get started." He dashed forward, taking Duke by surprise.  
  
Nosedive watched as Duke was locked into battle with Bladebeak. Their sabers clashed constantly, emitting sparks of light that painted the room with a sinister glow. Nosedive backed up, concerned about how this battle will end. At first, it seemed that Duke had the upper hand, tripping his opponent and slashing his leg, leaving a bloody mark that was paired with a moan of pain. However, Bladebeak got right back up, fighting even more violently. He tried a variety of moves that attempted to break Duke's defense, but the gray mallard masterfully deflected every attack. Nosedive looked at how shockingly similar this was to their duel with poles in the Pond's gym. He secretly prayed to have Duke win the altercation, but he was caught by surprise and gave a small shriek when a robot suddenly popped up and wrapped its metallic limbs around the teenager. This caused Duke a momentary lapse in concentration, earning a deep wound to the abdomen and to one of Duke's legs. He fell to the floor, bleeding heavily from the leg and holding his side painfully. Bluebleak, without hesitation, swung around and delivered a powerful kick to Duke's face. With a sickening crack upon impact, Duke fell unconscious.  
  
"DUKE! NO!" Nosedive screamed, breaking free from the robot with a surge of adrenalin, blowing it apart with his puck blasters.  
  
"Don't worry kid. He's not dead…yet." He gave a grin, moving Duke's head side to side with his foot and laughing. All of a sudden, a deep rage began to stir within Nosedive and he flew at Bladebeak. It caught the duck completely off balance, and Nosedive took him to the ground, grunting as they wrestled on the floor.  
  
"Nice try…" Bladebeak muttered, smacking Nosedive with the handle of his duck blade, forcing Nosedive over to the window, next to Duke's body. The elder mallard was still breathing, but it was shallow and labored. Nosedive decided to pick up Duke's duck blade, seeing as he dropped his blasters when diving for the villain.  
  
"Ha ha ha, this is rich!" Bladebeak started laughing heartily. "You, trying to use that thing?! Drop it before you hurt yourself, kid…"  
  
"Can it, Bluntbeak." Nosedive growled almost menacingly. "You wanna mess it up with my friends than it's time to do the chicken dance. I'm your instructor for the night."  
  
"Alright, young duck, let's dance. Remember, don't cry to mommy when I smash your face in." he said, showing his handle to Nosedive, fresh with the teen's blood on it.  
  
Nosedive decided to wait, not rushing into the attack. He breathed deeply, looking for a lowering of defenses so he could capitalize, yet his opponent was defensively circling around with him, laughing in confidence. All of a sudden, Bladebeak's face got deathly serious and he lunged at Nosedive, who was miraculously able to defend and sidestep the blow with almost professional gracefulness. Bladebeak was very surprised, but Nosedive didn't take the opportunity to gloat about his maneuver; he merely stayed in position, hands steady and concentrating on his foe. Bladebeak tried again to break Nosedive's defensives, but like clockwork, the teen was able to block them, as he did in the gym when Duke was sparring with him. Bladebeak grew a little more angry, and attacked faster, Nosedive having a hard time moving the blade fast enough to block all of his enemy's approaches. At one point, Nosedive blocked the blow, but his blade was being pushed into his outfit, his shirt getting burned by the Bladebeak's weapon. The evil avian stood back carefully and gave him a cocky grin.  
  
"You fight surprisingly well, young duck."  
  
"I've had lessons."  
  
"I see. Duke's been teaching you. Are you his apprentice?"  
  
"Something along those lines."  
  
"Heh. That's fine then. Ok, young duck, new strategy. Attack me if you can."  
  
Nosedive was cautious to accept the invitation. He kept thinking of how not to keep his side vulnerable, which Duke had warned him about. Bladebeak mocked him, Nosedive deciding to go for what seemed like an opening. He was able to slash off a bit of clothing from the duck, but in return, Bladebeak made a shallow slash into Nosedive's stomach. The teen staggered back a few steps and he began to bleed, feeling a nausea grip him.  
  
"That's it, for tonight." Bladebeak grinned, delivering a spinning kick to Nosedive's head, knocking him unconscious instantaneously. Bladebeak leaned down to the teen's ear, brushed back the blonde hair and smiled.  
  
"Round two won't have you so lucky. Now for…" he turned to Duke, but the thief took the advantage to deliver his own kick to Bladebeak's face, sending the duck tumbling across the room. Bladebeak, however, was able to prevent being brought out of consciousness and he gave a straight stare at his old rival, before transporting out of the factory. The battle was not a victory for either side.  
  
Nosedive woke up to the sounds of the other ducks, and through his blurred vision, he thought he caught glimpses of Duke being taken away. He looked up and saw a blur of white and believed it to be Wildwing. When his eyes cleared a bit and Nosedive could focus, he was not disappointed, because his brother was carrying him to the Aerowing. He never looked down though, the mask shining in the moodlight and hiding everything from Nosedive. It almost seemed like a cage on the white mallard, holding him at bay and keeping his mind focused on getting home rather than tending to his younger brother. The teen fell asleep again, still woozy and disorientated from the battle. Some time later, he woke up in the infirmary, next to Duke, who was being tended to by Tanya. He gave a small groan and Tanya brought her eyes up and saw him stirring.  
  
"Nosedive, you're awake." She exclaimed walking around Duke's bed to come up in between them. "How do you feel?"  
  
"Like Professor Possum after he fought with the Gorillas of Grizzlyland." He cracked a weak smile. "Where's the others?"  
  
"Wildwing is meeting with them. He'll be here in a minute. You both had us worried."  
  
All of a sudden, Wildwing stepped in the room. He gave a look at Tanya and headed up to Duke, checking his condition quickly. He turned to Nosedive, heading over to him and setting a warm hand down on his shoulder.  
  
"How are you, little bro?" he asked, the mask once again concealing any concern his looks could display. His voice remained steady, in its characteristic, commanding air.  
  
"Try ouch." Nosedive gave another small grin, but his brother didn't return it. Instead, he seemed angry, and Nosedive's humor felt defeated. Seriousness hung over their heads.  
  
"What did you think you were doing?" Wildwing asked his sibling, kneeling down alongside the bed so that their faces were inches apart. Nosedive could feel the power of the mask, acting as a barrier between his brother and himself.  
  
"I wanted to help Duke." Nosedive replied, trying to avoid direct eye contact with the mask.  
  
"You were supposed to stay home. Now you are stuck here with a hurt leg, a small concussion, and a gash on your abdomen."  
  
"Look, big bro, don't worry about me. Duke needs our attention right now."  
  
"…You're right." He sighed, looking over to the Duke and standing up, once again towering over his teenage brother. "But, this discussion isn't done, Nosedive." He headed out of the room, leaving Nosedive to wonder when their confrontation was actually going to happen. Even though he was injured, his brother would have the audacity to pick a fight?  
  
For the next couple of days, Nosedive was healing fairly rapidly, as was Duke, but he still remained in serious condition. Tanya needed to perform some surgery to repair some damage dealt to his organs when he was stabbed. His leg also had a deep gash, which was stitched together. Nosedive's wound on his abdomen also needed to be stitched, but thankfully, it was not a deep wound, only breaking skin. Only after exiting the infirmary and allowed to return his room did Nosedive finally come in contact with his brother, which rarely visited since he was busy trying to figure out Draguanus' plan and was often out with the ducks stopping another break in, which had grown more frequent over the last few days. Unfortunately, the ducks were rarely able to prevent Draguanus' men from getting their hands on a very powerful defense system, their most successful mission yet. However, the saurians were able to make off with more steel alloy and even Chameleon stole a toilet seat from Anaheim Mall. Amid the larger victory, Wildwing felt extremely frustrated, and unfortunately, in his loss of rationale, he happened to come across Nosedive, reading some comics and appearing real lazy, even if he was obeying medical orders to avoid strenuous activity.  
  
"So little bro…" Wildwing strolled up, the words already starting to hint of an impending confrontation. "Tell me now why you disobeyed orders and went with Duke."  
  
Nosedive looked up, but all that stared back was that damned mask. It looked ready to devour him, to chop him into pieces. What's worse is that he knew it was hiding another angry face behind it.  
  
"Bro, I had to do my part. I saved Duke's life!" he shot up, the pain attempting to pull him back down, but it proved useless in Nosedive's current defense. "Didn't you know that? If I didn't go, there'd be one less Mighty Duck here!"  
  
"Duke is perfectly able to take care of himself."  
  
"Well, he knew he could use my company."  
  
"Well, what I do know for sure is that you two have been seeing a lot of each other lately." Wildwing snapped, unable to prevent himself from tackling the subject. Nosedive looked surprised.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You heard me. What's going on? Why are you spending so much time with him?"  
  
"We talk and stuff; we're teammates!"  
  
"Oh, and you guys decided to go talking during this mission?"  
  
"I went to help, Wing!"  
  
"We didn't need you to go and risk yourself on this mission. Damn it, you could have been seriously hurt, much less killed!" the voice raised another notch, the argument was beginning to move into a shouting phase, attracting the attention of the other ducks. Nosedive tried to dodge the argument before it got out of hand, and headed for his room, but Wildwing stepped directly in his path, aggressively holding back Nosedive from escape.  
  
"Don't go heading off like this. Quit running away and face me!" he growled, the pit of Nosedive's stomach began to sank. This anger was beginning to creep up inside of him.  
  
"Damn it, Wing, listen to me for a minute! I left because I needed to help. Wraith wasn't the only one there, but a member of the Brotherhood. He knocked out Duke and was about to attack him…I had to defend him..." he blurted the words out, trying to keep Wildwing from talking, but the white avian's voice, breaking midway into his explanation, was overpowering.  
  
"Duke can take care of himself."  
  
"We're a team, Wing! We stick together!"  
  
"Oh, yeah, you sure are sticking together!"  
  
"At least he listens to me, unlike some ducks!"  
  
"What did you say to me?!" Wildwing's expression was completely devoid of patience, and the mask only seemed to amplify its effect on the scared teen.  
  
"Are you a fool? YOU COULD HAVE DIED! Damnit, don't you get it?" his voice was already tearing Nosedive apart, and the younger mallard failed to see any compassion in his older brother. "I don't want to lose you!" came out of Wildwing's beak, sounding juxtaposed with his previous argument, since the tone of worry was now spread upon the words for the first time.  
  
At this point, Nosedive couldn't hear the concern any longer. He faced the mask, drilling the tears out of him with diamond-headed precision. The rage was boiled in his eyes, and he gave his brother the cruelest look he could muster, and screamed with rage. "IT'S TOO LATE, YOU'VE ALREADY LOST ME! YOU DON'T LISTEN, YOU DON'T CARE! I HATE YOU, WILDWING!"  
  
Everything stopped for a moment when those words came out. Nosedive couldn't move because somehow, he knew he had just stabbed his brother in the heart. Nosedive wanted to take it back, to beg for forgiveness, but irrationality got the best of him and he continued to stare, pain and rage running down his face in the small trickling of burning tears. He couldn't even remember when it happened, but he successfully got his brother to take off the mask, now dangling loosely in his hand. However, Nosedive didn't see the anger reflected back in Wildwing's eyes. He was struck with an overpowering guilt when instead of his brother's confrontational mood, there was a shaken look of absolute pain on Wildwing's face. His eyes focused down on him, all anger gone, reflecting only the continuing glance of his brother reflected in his pupils. To add to the effect, tears were beginning to form at the white mallard's eyes…never had Nosedive seen any hint of tears since their reunion in the camps on Puckworld. The frown, shattered complexion, shocked look of sudden affliction in his eyes…Nosedive couldn't take it anymore. He dove towards the front door, grabbing his coat and right before turning the knob, catching a glimpse of Tanya, Mallory, and Grin, who all witnessed the whole thing. Nosedive was followed by silence and stares of disbelief on his comrades' faces. Never had he ever said he hated his brother, and never had he been able to reduce Wildwing to a complete state of helplessness. He flashed a last second glance to his brother, but his face only looked to the ground, a single tear fell, arms limp, completely devoid of all power and authority he commanded just a couple minutes ago. Nosedive shut the door, running out of the Pond, into the bright of day, not knowing where his troubled feet would take him.  
  
Mallory took a labored step forward, the first movement since Nosedive had left the room. Her head was still swimming, haunted with the look of hate in his eyes. She couldn't find the words to say, looking at Wildwing, his back to her, head drooped down, absolutely lost in misery. Tanya turned around, still shocked silent because of the whole scene. Grin continued to sit where he was meditating, his head bowed down. He knew the Nosedive was sorry and what's worse, he felt the breaking of his leader's heart. Before Mallory could reach Wildwing, he walked off into his room silently, shutting the door behind him. At the same time, Duke was beginning to wake up in the infirmary. Expecting relief from his teammates, he saw an empty bed next to him and the look of Tanya, fiddling with a vial of medicine, her mind clearly unfocused.  
  
Hey…nobody's gonna say hi to me?" he waved his hand, gaining Tanya's attention. She began to perk up a bit, but Duke still saw heavy signs of burden in her downtrodden appearance.  
  
"Tanya, what happened? Where's the kid?"  
  
"I just can't believe it."  
  
"What? Tell me!"  
  
"You know how close Wildwing and Nosedive were, right?"  
  
"Yeah…very close."  
  
"They were arguing again…"  
  
"So soon?"  
  
"No, this is different. This wasn't a normal fight. Nosedive told Wildwing he hated him, and stormed out."  
  
Duke's eyes opened wider with the look and stared at Tanya, wondering if he heard what he thought he heard.  
  
"He said that?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"What'd Wildwing do?"  
  
"His back was to me. He took off the mask and just stood there. Not a word, not a movement…nothing. Even though I couldn't see his face, he was completely stunned with pain. I just can't believe it would ever come to this point."  
  
"I feel bad for the both of them…poor kid…but did he have to take such a drastic step?"  
  
Tanya didn't want to talk anymore. She slowly headed out the door to go get something, but Duke wasn't paying attention, detracted in his thoughts. He only thought about how much pain there was hanging over the Pond today. He also felt this small nagging pain inside him associated with guilt. He couldn't help feeling like if he didn't take Nosedive with him, none of this would've happened.  
  
"What's wrong, dude, you look so miserable." Thrash leaned over the counter, seeing Nosedive, whose smile had faded and eyes were racked with guilt.  
  
"Yeah, what's going on?" Mook asked, eyeing his expressions. Nosedive's energy was just not there and the two of them grew increasingly worried.  
  
"I told my brother I hated him…I feel terrible." Nosedive lowered his eyes and leaned back on the nearest vacant arcade machine.  
  
"Whoa, how'd that happen?" Thrash gave him a dumbfounded look, unable to comprehend how a duck so riddled with admiration would say that to his idol.  
  
"We were arguing again, the same old argument about defying him. I just couldn't…I just snapped. He actually took the mask off…he looked like I stabbed him in the heart. Everything…all of us froze. I had to go…I don't know why I said it…I never said anything like it before." Nosedive quieted down, staring to the floor, still actively recalling that look on Wildwing's face, just burned into his eyes and replaying everywhere. He sat down, and shut his eyes, but Wildwing's face just kept looking at him, those tears, slowly rolling his cheeks. Nosedive put his head down in between his knees and started to form tears. Thrash and Mook left him alone to brood and the teen sat like a rock for a long time, stricken by guilt. When the store closed, Nosedive finally got up to head back to the Pond, slowly walking down side streets and dreading his return. Now, he was sure, the others were sure to be furious, and Wildwing would probably beat him down for saying such cruel words. Instead, the roaring of the Aerowing, taking off into the distance, interrupted his thoughts.  
  
"Can't lizard lips schedule his little crimes when there aren't family problems…" Nosedive muttered, heading in the Pond, and down into the living area.  
  
Coming into the living room, he saw no one; the place was hauntingly quiet. Walking to the infirmary, he started to hear the humming of a couple machines and headed inside. Duke was sleeping and Grin was sitting in the corner, meditating. He opened his eyes as Nosedive came in the room.  
  
"Hello, little friend. I can sense your troubled aura."  
  
"What'd I do Grin? I didn't mean to hurt Wing so bad." Nosedive turned away, too embarrassed to look at his friend with such a memory hanging over his head. Soon, Duke began to stir with the sounds of conversation.  
  
"Kid?" he looked up, seeing Nosedive turned away from him.  
  
"Duke? You're alright." Nosedive said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Yeah, it'll take more than that to take me down. Kid…you saved me didn't you?"  
  
"I attacked Bladebeak after you passed out. I made it for a little while, but he got me…the same way you did with the pole in sparring practice." Nosedive admitted shamefully, lifting up his jersey to show the wound.  
  
"I'm sorry that you got drawn into this, Kid."  
  
"Don't worry Duke. I'll be alright, but I have to tell Wing I was wrong. I never meant to hurt him." He said, turning to Grin. "What happened?"  
  
"Draguanus is after another component of something…apparently, he has a plan in action." Grin replied slowly, eyes closing back into meditation.  
  
"Man, this bites…" Nosedive gave a small complaint, sitting on the other bed and looking out at the room.  
  
"Yeah, I know, Kid. It truly does." Duke said, laying back on the bed and looking at the ceiling.  
  
A short time later, the Aerowing could be heard, landing back in the Pond, causing Nosedive to tremble with a little bit of worry. He knew he had to face Wildwing, but didn't know how to look him in the eye after what he had said. He quickly escaped the infirmary and headed into his own room, listening to the sounds of stirring and lights flickering. Soon, the hissing of the infirmary door was heard in the far distance, and closing again.  
  
"So, how'd it go?" Duke peered up at the ducks.  
  
"Draguanus wanted some prototype turbine that generates electrical power." Tanya said.  
  
"But he didn't get it." Mallory added. They both looked up. Wildwing stood there like the pillar of strength he usually was, but he was just silent now.  
  
"The Kid's back." Duke added, wondering what kind of reaction that'd produce.  
  
"Alright." Wildwing said, his voice low, sapped of strength.  
  
"Talk to him." Grin said, opening his eyes. "He truly regrets the bad karma he's generated."  
  
"Yeah. You two need to settle this." Mallory looked up, a slight look of pity on her face.  
  
Wildwing gave a sigh, nodding his head, and heading back out the door. He slowly pushed towards the room, switching to casual wear and removing the mask. Wildwing felt himself tense up as he was about to knock. Suddenly, the look of hate on his brother's face flashed in his eyes. Those words…so painful to hear, ripping his heart apart. They memory kept replaying and he was stuck there, trying so hard to knock, but his broken heart holding him back. Suddenly, once again, the Drake One's alarm was blaring.  
  
"Later…" he said, with slight relief, and headed off to the others, running down to the ready room. "Why doesn't lizard lips respect family problems…" Wildwing muttered to himself, putting the mask back on, and switching into his armor.  
  
"What now?!" he jumped into the ready room, looking up at the screen.  
  
"They're attacking another place with those electrical turbines!" Tanya said, pointing to the visual  
  
"Damnit! He just doesn't give up!" Wildwing bellowed; tired, angry, but most of all, hurt.  
  
He jumped on the Aerowing with Tanya and Mallory and started operating the controls. Once again, the Pond's retractable roof opened up, spitting out the Aerowing as it shot out into the night sky.  
  
"What does he want with all these components anyway?" Tanya wondered, flashing through images on the on-line computers.  
  
"Ha ha ha! I didn't think it'd be so easy!" Draguanus sat back in the Raptor's throne, watching the Aerowing flying towards its target. All of a sudden, Siege and Wraith reappeared, with a dozen drones, holding the turbine.  
  
"Got it Lord Draguanus." Siege hollowed.  
  
"Excellent…and the ducks are still on their way. Ha ha ha!" Draguanus felt like kicking. Never before was he filled with childish glee.  
  
All of a sudden, Chameleon entered the throne room with Bladebeak, who was walking with silent steps, arms folded.  
  
"Ah, boss. He wants to see you." Chameleon passed an uncomfortable look to Draguanus, who was not at all troubled by the visitor.  
  
"Bladebeak." Draguanus leaped off the throne and started pacing back and forth. "So what do I owe the pleasure to, by friend?" he said, passing a sheepish grin across his scaly face.  
  
"You know what I want. Where in the hell is Duke?" Bladebeak gave a low growl and stared at the Aerowing on the screen, now landing at the site.  
  
"Patience, my friend. You injured Duke during your first encounter, so now they are healing them up at the Pond." Bladebeak's patience was seriously tested, and grew angry at the implication of waiting.  
  
"Then…you find me a way into the Pond so I can finish the job…NOW!" he demanded, slamming his fist on one of Draguanus's armrests. The dragon grew annoyed with the lack of respect.  
  
"You don't command me, duck!" he growled, shooting him a warning glance.  
  
With a flash of his hand, Bladebeak had his duck saber at the throat of Draguanus, to the surprise of his lackeys, who remained still.  
  
"Listen to me…we agreed to a deal, and I'm not a patient duck. You get those ducks out and get me in…you understand!"  
  
"Uh…can't we talk about this?"  
  
"We are. You think of something…right NOW!"  
  
"Alright, duck. Siege, keep the ducks company until Bladebeak can sneak aboard the Aerowing. Wraith, do you have the cloaking spell?"  
  
"Yes, Lord Draguanus."  
  
"Good, now listen to the plan. Wraith will go with you, using the cloaking spell. With this spell, the ducks will not be able to see or locate you with their devices. The Mighty Ducks will, in effect, have a stowaway this time. You can go back to their base and kill Duke there. How does that work?" Draguanus gulped, the blade remaining fixating at his throat. After a tense moment, he eased up a bit when Bladebeak pulled his saber away, joining the laughter for an instant.  
  
"Yes, Draguanus, I accept. Take me to the ship!" he commanded Wraith, who grunted some low curses as he disappeared with Bladebeak.  
  
"Chameleon, get that turbine to our…secret spot." Chameleon nodded his head and disappeared with the drones, leaving Draguanus alone to watch the Aerowing with immense pleasure.  
  
Meanwhile, half of the Mighty Ducks team was cursing their luck for arriving late to the robotics laboratory when Siege, sporting a small army of drones, suddenly surrounded them.  
  
"Don't you hate it when they do this?" Tanya gulped, noticing all the guns were focused on them. The suspenseful moment was interrupted when the ducks noticed that Siege's com was beeping. Groaning, Siege activated his com to see Draguanus appear.  
  
"Siege, finish up. We're done already." Wildwing heard, wondering exactly what the enemy meant by that.  
  
"Ah, just let me try and flatten the ducks first." He looked almost disappointed, looking to the ducks with a grin, but his expression faded into one of anger when he saw that all the ducks were gone.  
  
The counter attack happened from all three sides, disabling the robot drones with the skill of an assassin. Within seconds, the whole collection of robots were reduced to rubble The ducks returned to their original spot, puck blasters cocked and loaded.  
  
"Feel lucky, sleazy saurian?" Mallory gave him a cold stare. Siege gave it half a second's thought.  
  
"Not anymore. Bye ducks!" Siege vanished almost as quickly as he appeared.  
  
"Well, that was fast." Tanya looked to the other two. "It's almost as if Draguanus just wanted to keep us momentarily busy."  
  
Wildwing's eyes flashed with suspicion over their distraction and began to think of Duke and Nosedive. "Get back to the Pond, now!" he yelled, running to the Aerowing. On their way back, a lot of concern was given to their teammates at home, but little did they know, they were actually delivering the problem.  
  
Grin's com buzzed and he activated it, seeing the mask of the leader popping up, looking concerned.  
  
"Grin, any trouble?"  
  
"No. I sense no danger present."  
  
"Keep your eyes peeled and hold on. We're coming back. Wildwing out."  
  
Grin took a quick look around, getting up and walking around. His heavy footsteps into the living room attracted Nosedive, which came out of his bedroom to join the gentle giant in the darkness.  
  
"What's going on Grin?"  
  
"Our teammates are concerned. They wonder if evil is present."  
  
"Uh oh…this is seriously not cool." Nosedive gave a serious glance, the tiny amount of light shining from under Nosedive's door doing little more than outlining Grin's face.  
  
"Little buddy…something is not right…it's getting closer." Grin suddenly stated. Nosedive, now visibly concerned, ran to the monitors.  
  
"I don't get it…" Nosedive stared at the monitors, unable to see any activity. "It's just the Aerowing. Mallory, Tanya come in." Nosedive activated his com.  
  
"Tanya here."  
  
"Tanya, anything wrong in the Aerowing?" Wildwing peered towards Tanya at the sound of his brother's voice.  
  
"Nothing here…why?"  
  
"Grin's got one of those major psychic feelings. Something's not right."  
  
"Hey, Nosedive, we're here. Hold on." Tanya said, turning off the com. Nosedive and Grin headed down to the ready room, where the Aerowing was landing. However, after a moment of silence, he shook in fear when the only duck that emerged was Bladebeak!  
  
"What the hell?!" Nosedive jumped back towards the door, extremely uncomfortable. He was concerned for his teammates on board, especially since he heard no sounds from them.  
  
"Where's Duke?!" Bladebeak roared out among his audience, his face then frozen on the familiar sight Nosedive.  
  
"You again! Kid…tell me where Duke is."  
  
"Where are my teammates?!" Nosedive demanded forcefully. He would not lose the upper hand, especially when he was at his own base.  
  
"Oh, I can answer that, young duck…" Wraith came out after Bladebeak, with the three mallards, frozen in place and levitated around him.  
  
"Let us go, saurian scum!" Mallory said, trying to move her arms, without any such luck. They all groaned as they tried to escape Wraith's magical grasp, but after a small electrical shock delivered by the saurians, the ducks stopped trying to physically escape their captivity.  
  
"You touch my friends and you'll pay!" Nosedive shook his fist, but was only greeted by Bladebeak, headed towards him and Grin, flashing his duck saber with a fire in his eyes. He was here to kill and he wasn't going to escape without Duke and Nosedive's heads on his wall.  
  
"You and me kid, let's go!" he said, starting to charge with a duck saber. Nosedive quickly disappeared into the hallway, locking the door, and heading off to the infirmary, where Duke was.  
  
"Leave him alone!" Wildwing growled fiercely, looking between the two villains.  
  
"Sorry, ducks. This is what he desires for payment. Draguanus always repays his debts." Wraith calmly replied, unlocking the door with a wave of his hand. Grin tried to save the day, charging at Bladebeak, but Wraith sighed, waving his hand again, the giant duck was soon frozen just like the others. The ducks were completely helpless, especially to help Duke and Nosedive, which the whole situation depended on. Yet, somehow, the expressed boredom on Wraith's face seemed to trivialize the moment. They were all curious to why Wraith found this whole situation annoyingly hopeless.  
  
Nosedive burst into the infirmary, startling Duke as he waking from one of his naps.  
  
"Duke, I hope you're ready for this!" Nosedive said, a bit tense and backing up next to the bed, puck blasters ready.  
  
"Ready for what Kid?"  
  
"In about ten seconds, Bluntbeak is going to be coming in the door to chop us into pieces!" he clamored, almost panicked.  
  
"Alright, Kid. Then I'll be ready." Duke jumped to his feet, still a bit disorientated and suffering from the pains in his leg and abdomen. The duck saber was left laying next to the bed, and Duke grabbed it, preparing himself for the confrontation. He was prepared when the door flashed upon, revealing Bladebeak, who looked vengeful, regardless of the sly smile embedded on his beak.  
  
"Well, well, well. Duke…how are you doing?"  
  
"I've had better days."  
  
"I have a feeling this will be your worst one, old bird."  
  
"I'm not that old…not yet!" Duke flashed a confident grin. Nosedive could tell that they were both eager to finish their battle.  
  
"Come on, let's get this started then."  
  
"I'm only waiting for you, young fool." Duke, still adopting his dashing tone, unafraid of the severity of the situation.  
  
This battle went much shorter than the first one. Duke was immediately on the defensive, while Bladebeak tried a variety of attacks. However, the older duck was easily able to prevent any blows from connecting. He gave small grimaces of pain when forced to make a swift movement, but he had no difficulty holding his own against his rival, who grew more impatient by the minute. Nosedive seemed to understand after a minute of this standstill that Duke was waiting for the teenager to take his opportunity and jump in the action. Nosedive decided the best plan of attack was to fire a puck at the duck's head, thereby disabling him and allowing the enemy to survive. The first puck had missed terribly because of an expected wide parry on part of Bladebeak. It struck the wall, bouncing off, stopping when it crashed into a heart monitor, making it flicker with static.  
  
"Oops…" Nosedive grumbled, aiming his gun back in between the two warriors, still gripped in combat. He was very careful not to be too noisy since he knew that Duke needed his concentration to remain in the battle. Squinting his eyes and squeezing the trigger with a bit of hope, the next puck just barely missed Bladebeak's head, striking another portion of the wall. The distraction allowed Duke to get the upper hand as he delivered a heavy blow to Bladebeak's extended right arm, making him fall back, clutching the bleeding limb against his body with heated breaths.  
  
"Damn you, old one!"  
  
"Seriously, dude, you need some new lines." Nosedive rolled his eyes, unimpressed by his foe's limited vocabulary. He was surprised that the duck actually heard him and turned to face him, with a vicious snarl on his beak.  
  
"That's it kid! You're going down!" Bladebeak surprisingly dropped the sword and made a mad dash, immediately leaping into the air directly towards Nosedive. Everything seemed to flash for a split second when the teen realized his life was truly in danger, and that he needed to respond. However, he only made note of that after the flash had expired, leaving him looking at Duke, whose wide eyes and surprised expression indicated that something extremely irregular had occurred.  
  
"Duke? What happened?" Nosedive gaze stayed focused on him at first, but then broke off, frantically trying to locate his assailant by scanning the room. He never thought to look down until Duke pointed to the floor. At his feet was the duck, sprawled out and unconscious  
  
"Whoa, man, like what happened?" Nosedive looked down in surprise, his eyes heading right back to Duke.  
  
"Kid…ya nailed him!" Duke beamed, stepping up and tapping the body with his boot. "You delivered this kick right to his face and floored him! How'd you do that?!" Duke gave him a look of shock. He had never believed that Nosedive would have had the instincts to counter an attack with such fluidity.  
  
"Dude! This is so cool! Are you sure it was me?" Nosedive kept staring at the unconscious duck, admiring his handiwork. Sure enough, a bruised was starting to form on his enemy's beak and a small trickle of blood was emitted from the mouth.  
  
"What did I tell you about your reaction time, Kid? You're getting good." Duke flashed a prideful grin. "Didn't even think, just clobbered him senseless! Oh, how the mighty have fallen!" Duke's shoulders shook with laughter, looking back to Nosedive after a moment.  
  
"Well, I'd love to sit here and have my ego stroked some more, but the others need saving. Maybe I'll drop kick Wraith or something!" Nosedive took off ahead, back into the ready room where Wraith stood, disinterested, while the rest of the ducks gave breaths of relief.  
  
"What a dud! I thought Draggy was going to really give it a try this time." Nosedive grinned, beginning a slow descent towards Wraith, whose expression hadn't changed the slightest.  
  
"I'm disappointed. I expected you to beat him twenty-four seconds ago…" Wraith admitted dryly, forcing Nosedive to a sudden stop. The other ducks also unexpected this news and began to look at each other a bit confused.  
  
'What'd ya mean?! I thought you wanted that dude to shish-kabob us!" Nosedive exclaimed.  
  
"Draguanus liked the duck, but his services were no longer needed. He was so occupied with revenge that he lost himself. But, you and the other duck has knocked some sense into him, so now Draguanus can dispose of the blind fool." Wraith said, starting to twirl his staff rapidly. Within a few seconds, Nosedive's frozen allies fell to the ground with a thud and the saurian vanished. After checking each other for injuries, Duke came in, looking a bit worried.  
  
"Bladebeak just disappeared!" the gray mallard proclaimed, drawing the attention of the others.  
  
"That's the stowaway with Wraith?" Tanya gave him a perplexed look. Duke just peered over to Nosedive and gave a reassuring smile.  
  
"Never mind." Duke started. "Besides, there's no need to worry, not with the Karate Kid here." He extended his finger, pointing at Nosedive. Mallory arched her eyebrow in curiosity and Wildwing shot over a suspicious glance. Duke continued. "He's really getting into this. Just clobbered the poor guy with a devastating kick. He'll have a headache for a few days. Pull it up on the security cam and see it for yourselves."  
  
Sure enough, Mallory and Tanya humored him, watching the mysterious duck cornering the two on the infirmary camera, drawing a request for explanation from Wildwing. Yet, every Mighty Duck gave some reaction of surprise (including Nosedive himself) when they saw the teen deliver a masterful kick to the duck's face, sprawling him out on the floor.  
  
"How did you do that, little friend?" Grin turned over to the teen.  
  
"Yeah, what have you been holding out on us?" Mallory gave him a suspicious eye, yet her arched beak indicated a satisfied feeling towards the whole thing. Wildwing felt like saying something, but he remained quiet.  
  
"I got no idea. It just happened. I never consciously did it; it's like being possessed or something!" Nosedive was at a loss of words. Duke's look of admiration and pride only was met by a look of jealousy and hurt on part of Wildwing, once again hidden behind the mask.  
  
Later on, in the day, after a lot of discussion, the ducks met back up in the ready room for a briefing on the latest situation with Draguanus.  
  
"What do all those parts entail?" Mallory asked Tanya, which the ducks all lined up, staring up at the giant screen.  
  
"It seems like Draguanus may be assembling a weapon of some sort. However, we have no way to track him at the moment." Tanya said. "It seems as if they vanished."  
  
"Hey, girl, what do you mean vanished?" Nosedive cut in, his youthful voice was once again joining in on the conversation.  
  
"Draguanus is having no activity now. We were able to locate the Raptor for a split second when Wraith vanished, but now, it's moved and we don't know where." Tanya looked up at the screen, showing a map, marking where the Raptor had been detected.  
  
"Alright, but as soon as you get something, let us know." Wildwing said, dismissing the meeting. He refused to give Nosedive any look as he headed out of the room slowly, disappearing to the gym for a time.  
  
Nosedive headed out the room, knowing that we was going to need to have a serious talk with his brother sometime soon, but for the time being, the ducks could only be left to wonder what was going to happen with Draguanus. What was he going to do with all the circuitry and raw materials that he gathered? Would the ducks find out soon, or would they be kept into the dark?  
  
"How'd it go, Wraith?"  
  
"As expected, the duck lost. I have him locked up now. He's doesn't seem to be too happy with the arrangements."  
  
"That's what happens when he refuses to follow a plan."  
  
"So what happens now, Lord Draguanus?" Siege stepped off from the side, joining the conversation.  
  
"Right now, we wait. Within a couple months, my new project will be completed, and then the ducks will truly have their fate sealed."  
  
Just then, Chameleon appeared on the scene, drawing the saurians' attention over to him.  
  
"All done, Boss. We got all the parts we need."  
  
'Excellent. This new strategy has brought us much better results than in the past…" Draguanus paced over to the control panel, pressing a button with one of his long, extended claws. He watched as the droids carried on with construction, sparks flying everywhere as panels were welded together. He gave a delighted grin as Siege walked up towards him.  
  
"What is this new strategy you're talking about?" Siege asked, a bit dumbfounded.  
  
"Haven't you noticed? All the extra missions, keeping the ducks running back and forth. We have pulled off victory."  
  
"But, Boss, we didn't win every time." Chameleon came up, the reminder would have normally angered Draguanus, but to their surprise, he was still very pleased with himself.  
  
"It's part of the plan, fools. Don't you get it? I sent you to get more materials than necessary! That way, even if the ducks thwarted some of our attempts, they'd be unable to prevent them all! As a result, I still got the parts I needed, plus a little excess!" he snickered, turning back to the scene of assembly and gave a low laugh. The saurians looked at each other; they couldn't remember the last time Draguanus was in such a good mood.  
  
"We will lie low now." Draguanus suddenly spun around, directing their hand at the three threateningly. "But, soon, we will truly seize victory and waste this miserable planet!"  
  
"What about beryllium crystals for the Raptor?" Wraith shot him a little look of slight defiance.  
  
"We stay quiet! This new project has my top priority, you hear me!?" he gave a small roar, and the others backed off a bit. Draguanus had a sparkle in his eye. It wasn't like his endless other schemes that ended in failure. It wasn't a desperate attempt to get the Raptor afloat. He was actually doing the unthinkable and recycling an old plan, determined to do it right after months of planning. He cracked an evil smile as he saw a rocket hoisted in position. "This is going to work…I swear it…" he thought to himself with an almost childish glee. Soon…very soon, the Ducks would have a serious problem on their hands…  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


End file.
